Napoli and Barcelona came together to snub UEFA warnings and bans on political messages, showing a ‘STOP WAR’ banner before kick-off in a Europa League game with a Russian referee.
The second leg of the Europa League play-off kicked off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona this evening at 20.00 GMT.
It had ended 1-1 at Camp Nou, with Ferran Torres cancelling out the Piotr Zielinski opener.
There were complaints a few hours before the game that Napoli fans from the Curva B were barred from bringing in a banner calling for an end to war, as it was a ‘political message.’
It was therefore frankly surprising to see that after the teams had lined up to exchange gifts and speak with the Russian referee, they stood together behind a banner that read ‘STOP WAR.’
Notably, that was a printed banner, so it was done professionally, possibly by Napoli themselves.
The television coverage cut away from the banner, so only a glimpse of it was caught on the world feed.
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine overnight, with tanks reported to be within 25 miles of the capital Kiev.
Barcelona and Napoli players displayed a banner that read ‘STOP WAR’ before their Europa League match. pic.twitter.com/TCYWiPLbij
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 24, 2022